Pharmacokinetics in man of a new antiarrhythmic drug, cibenzoline

The kinetics of cibenzoline (UP 339.01), a new antiarrhythmic drug, was studied after i.v. and oral administration to 5 healthy subjects. Cibenzoline levels in plasma and urine cibenzoline were measured by a GLC method. After i.v. administration, the total clearance was 826 ml . min-1. The fraction of cibenzoline excreted unchanged in the urine was 0.602 and it was correlated with the creatinine clearance. After i.v. and oral administration, the renal clearances were 499 ml . min-1 and 439 ml . min-1, and the half-lives were 4 h 01 min and 3 h 24 min, respectively. The differences were not significant. Availability by the oral route was 0.92, the maximum plasma concentration being observed at 1 h 36 min. The results were compared with those for other antiarrhythmic drugs.